


Empty House

by sunaddicted



Series: Tumblr Prompts 2019 [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Extended Universe, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Drabble, Heavy Angst, Kissing, Lack of Communication, M/M, Melancholy, Relationship Study, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 03:56:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17439485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: He had been wrong.Dead wrong.





	Empty House

**Author's Note:**

> An anon asked for superbat + angst

_Empty House_

Seeing the manor come back to life was... odd.

Bruce had thought that having the place that once had been his home turned from a graveyard of memories to a beacon of hope would be healing, in a way.

He had been wrong.

_Dead_   _wrong_.

Everytime he heard laughter echoing through the still half-abandoned halls, his mind was filled with ghosts of voices that now only lived in the mausoleum of his mind: his mother's shrill notes entwined with his father's baritone; the gleeful chattering of Dick's cheerfulness backed by the pattering of his feet on the parqueted floors; Jason's shy chuckles teeming in the darkest corners of the old house like the bats in the Cave.

Bruce hadn't thought about Jason in a while - shame and anger roiled thickly in his stomach.

_It hurt._

"How many hiding places do you have left?"

Clark.

Somehow, death and betrayal hadn't tarnished his light.

"More than you can find"

"I bet Alfred knows them all"

Of course he did: the man had brought him up with the love and the sternness of a father, there was nobody else in the world that knew him quite as well as Alfred did - and he would never spill his secrets to Clark, even if he disagreed with the way he used the self-imposed isolation as a coping method. Bruce didn't point it out to Clark, though: it would only make the other man feel diminished - he shrugged, keeping his eyes focused on the dust dancing in a rare ray of sunlight "Maybe"

Or maybe not - the place was so huge that Clark couldn't imagine being able to completely map it out without the aid of flight and x-ray vision. He sat down next to Bruce, chin propped on his shoulder "Barry has gone for a food run"

He hadn't realised that it already was time for lunch but once he properly took in the slanting of the light, it became clear that it was sometime close to 1pm "You know, once the kitchen is running at full capacity, Alfred will ban takeaway from the manor"

"I can't wait to see Barry's despair"

"Evil"

Clark gently took Bruce's chin in his fingers and tilted his head to the side, close enough that he could kiss him on the mouth

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Until Bruce allowed the pecks to deepen, letting his lips part so that Clark could taste the bitterness of black coffee that still lingered amongst the other's tastebuds; he wondered about whether another human would have been able to perceive it, or whether it was his enhanced senses that had managed to drink in the leftovers molecules - to know the answer, he should have asked Bruce when he had drunk his last cup.

It could wait, though: he wasn't particularly inclined to break apart - he wanted to soak in the closeness a little longer, enjoy the intimacy of such a secluded spot with the man he had come to love and cherish.

It had been hard to shove his way past Bruce's defences.

And, truth to be told, Clark wasn't really sure that he had actually managed to do so; there was at the back of his mind the niggling suspicion that Bruce had purposefully bared parts of himself, so that he could keep others hidden.

Clark didn't know how he felt about that.

He didn't even know if Bruce loved him but he had to hope that someone as guarded as he was wouldn't kiss him just because - though, he did kiss plenty of people at his parties, didn't he?

Clark flicked the thought away and deepened the kiss.

Bruce had never thought he would feel emptier.


End file.
